Giving Thanks

Woven into the fabric of American Heritage are the glistening threads of a self-evident truth: God - not government - gives people rights. For more than two centuries Americans have lived by, dreamed by and died by the idea that we are endowed by our Creator with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

From across the tempest seas came the first Hope of our nation. They left homeland and heritage to seek a better life and plant the seeds of liberty in a New World. As the fledgling experiment that became our Nation struggled to survive it was nourished by the belief that America is the Promised Land.

The truth of God-given freedom has carried our nation through hope and despair, peace and war, terror and destruction.

But not all believe that truth.

The natural man craves power. We face today the same forces that compelled our forefathers to flee their lands of oppression and seek a new life in America. We face a growing class of political elite who believe in imposition over opportunity and force over failure. We face the apathy of a few who don't value the struggles of our past or the protection of our future.

We must not give in to such forces.

The hope for a better tomorrow, faith in God and the belief that the founding of our nation was divinely inspired are, to some, ideas thought of as dusty relics of the past. These unbelievers seek to transform and remake our nation, but we will not give up so easily. We will not despair. That worth keeping is also worth the fight.

President Ronald Reagan warned:

"Perhaps you and I have lived with this miracle too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again."

Today I am thankful that, as a descendent of pioneer ancestors who crossed the wilderness of the western plains in search of religious freedom, I carry the love of God in my soul. I am thankful that, as the granddaughter of a brave airman who fought in World War II, I carry the love of country in my blood. And I am thankful that, as the mother of five children whom I hope inherit the same blessings of freedom that I enjoy, I carry the love of liberty in my heart.

During this time of Thanksgiving, I wish to express my gratitude for the freedom to live, love, work, fail, grow, struggle and prosper in this great Land of Liberty.